Deal With It
by Kyoku Ayanami
Summary: Li feels as if he's off his game. The reason? His feelings for Sakura are solidifying, thus taking his mind off the cards per se. My first crack at both a romance and CCS fic. R+R, or I'll be killed by wolves!


Well, here we go. My first non-comedic fic actually based on something (I had an angst fic that could have fit any description, no names mentionned). Not counting my parodies and one-act stories, this is my 4th fic. But this is my first lenghty fic that I have intentions in completing (the other three are on hold).  
  
Beforehand, I would like to apologize in advance to all the hardcore Card Captor Sakura fans out there who may think this story is way out of line. Flames are expected, so don't sugarcoat anything. Go Howard Cosell on me and tell it like it is. A review's a review, right?  
  
P.S. A king-sized thanks to Hildebrant for the lesson in Anime 101 and the inspiration for this fic. Thanks, guy. I owe you one.  
  
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The sun was slowly dipping into the horizon. The street crowd was livening up. Night was taking over. Li Syaoran was walking along for no perticular reason. Or so he said to himself. There was no way he was going to that same place for that same reason. He was starting to feel as if it was starting to get unhealthy. He felt as if he was getting obsessed. He felt dieseased.  
  
It stared about a month before tonight. He had come from Hong Kong for one reason (to him, anyways) : pick up where Clow Reed left off. Unfinished business. He had studied the history of the Clow for a while now. He had everything planned right down to the letter. The one thing he didn't count on was Sakura Kinomoto. So what if she opened the Clow book? So what if she was assigned to be a cardcaptor? So what if he couldn't seal the freakin' things? It was in his blood. He KNEW what he was doing. She didn't. Well, the fact that that the cardcapturing felt like less of a destined duty and more like the Super Bowl didn't help, what with most of the captures being on tape (he didn't mind the outfits, wink wink). Hence, Sakura and Tomoyo were compromising the secrecy of the whole ordeal.  
  
Capture after capture, he felt like he wasn't living up to his, and posibly Clow's, expectations. This rookie in the game was besting a veteran. He always doubted Sakura's abilities, and still does a little. But over time, Li started looking at Sakura through a different set of eyes. He saw her less of a rival and more of a friend. Did she feel the same? Who knew?  
  
With half the Clow deck back in the book, Sakura was mastering the art. Li was there, still helping out, but feeling like it's from the sidelines. Sure, Sakura, being the incredibly nice person she is, give him his share of the credit. He sheepishly but firmly accepts it, but he know he could pull more off. For some reason, he felt off his game.  
  
Why would he feel off his game? One could trace it back to a week ago. Another Clow Card, another big fight. Li was on the other side of town, so he didn't really know what was going on. The sensation of the card kicked in like novocaine, slowly but surely. He didn't act on instinct. He eventually decided that it was a card at work and bolted downtown. By the time he got there, the battle was in it's final stages. He decided not to interupt, to see what was going to come of it. But, for some reason, he didn't pay atteintion the fight. He didn't pay attention to Tomoyo's videotaping. He didn't even bother checking out what card was going to meet it's maker (litterally). The only thing Li could focus on was Sakura. He just stood there, looking at her as if she was a goddess. He didn't even realize the fight was over, that the card had been sealed and that she was yelling out his name. He quickly snapped out of it.  
  
On the way back home, he stopped in the city's botanical garden where (take a wild guess) sakura trees (for the newbs, that's "cherry blossom" in Japanese) dominated the landscape. He felt a little tired, so he sat on a bench in front of the bigger one. He glanced at his watch. 5:26. He just sat there looking at the cherry blossoms. Thinking of Sakura. Then his brain kicked into think mode. "You know, Li, it's not every guy that just sits around looking at a tree who shares it's name with a girl he knows." After all, you can only hang out with a member of the opposite sex for so long until "the feeling" kicks in. The staring, the sudden shot to your heart when he/she is around that feels like someone's squeezing it, the trying to avoid him/her not to admit to said feelings. It happens to the best of us. Someone appearantly forgot to tell Li.  
  
He just kept looking at the trees and thinking of the girl. He didn't notice the sun go down. He just pictured Sakura, the now most beautiful creature on two legs all of a sudden. He checked his watch a second time. 8:02. He bolted home quicker than you can say nothing. Thankfully, Li's parents asked no questions.  
  
He developped a habit of stopping at the botanical gardens. Card sightings had been slow lately, so he took his time. Looking at and thinking of Sakura(s). At this point in time, he felt as if this was getting out of hand. He hand to do something with himself not to obssess over some girl. But this isn't any girl, this is the girl. That's what he tried not to tell himself. He was already unfocused enough as it is.  
  
But he did return. He did do his thing. But this time a million questions were swirling inside his skull. Why do I like Sakura all of a sudden? Why do I feel like crap for doing so? Does she have any clue about this? Does Tomoyo? Is this normal? Why is that weird guy yelling at me?  
  
About 30 feet away, a foreign-sounding dude started yelling at someone. He figured it was him, since no one else was around. He thought he was in trouble of something. He started to run off.  
  
"Yo! Yo! Why you runnin'? D'ya play chess?" Li stopped dead in his tracks. "Chess?", replied Li "Sure. Why?".  
  
"Well, you been sittin' there for about an hour and a half now, so I figure you'd want to do somethin' else than look at them there sakuras", said the foreing guy, who didn't look much older than Li.  
  
Li thougt to himself ; "Anything to get my mind off Sakura". He agreed to play a game. "What's your name?", inquired Li.  
  
"Kevin X. McAllister, Joisey represent!"  
  
"I'm Li."  
  
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About half way through the game, Li starts to coffeehouse. "So, what's your story?"  
  
Kevin diverted his attention from the game board, where he was winning, to Li's face.  
  
"Well, as you can probably tell by my accent, I was born in New Jersey (pronounced "Joisey"). Newark, to be more specific. Anyways, it begins like this. My old man, Jacob McAllister was about 26, 27 at the time where he met my mom, Sue Xa. She was a tad younger, like 24. As you can guess, she was Chinese. Anyways my mama came to the States hoping to find a good job and make a living, but for some reason she picked Jersey. Anyhoo, my parents happened to have the same job down at some law place. My did instantly took a shining to my mom. He was quoted as to have said that my mom was the most beautiful thing on two legs. Then, he realized that this was more than an innocent crush. But he never had the balls to ask her out. But after a series of well coordinated mishaps, they ended up going on a date. From that point on, the rest is history."  
  
He just gave Li an insane amount of time to think out his next move. He went ahead shortly thereafter. The game went on, and this game was exaclty what the doctor ordered. He finally could focus on something else than Sakura. But then, the sudden sensation that he gets when a Clow Card is around arose. He had to break away.  
  
"Uh...sorry, dude, I'm late for something. I have to watch my hamster...er, uh...sleep! Yeah, that's it! Same time, same place tomorrow?"  
  
"Sure!" Kevin pronounced it "shoo-ah". For Li, it was off to the races for a chance to redeem himslf. To focus on what he came to Japan for. To put the Clow Crads back in place.  
  
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...and scene! Hope y'all enjoy it, 'cause this is a story of firsts for me : my first CCS fic, my first romance (I try) fic, my first long fic that I WILL complete, my first fic that will please (or piss off) a wider range of people than my parodies. Anyways, tell me what y'all think. Remember, **no** sugarcoating! 


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